Improvement in pruning implements



A. JfLYTLE. Pruning Implement. w No. 216,571. Patented June 17, I879.

PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW J. LYTLE, OF HILLSBOROUGH, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRUNING IMPLEMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 216,571, dated June 17,1879 application filed November 13, 1878.

To all. whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW J. LYTLE, of Hillsborough, in the county ofHighland. and State of Ohio, have invented certain new andusefuklmprovemcnts in Pruning-Knives and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, .referencebeing bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which form part of this specification.

The nature of my invention will be more fully seen by reference to theclaim, as my improvement will there be specifically set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art.

to which my invention appertains to make and use the same, I will nowproceed to describe its construction and operation, referring to theannexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is aside view of my pruning-shears.Fig. 2 is a separate view of the jaw with the cutting-blade. Fig. 3shows the ends of the handles when locked together. Fig. 4 shows the jawon which the limb rests while being out.

A and B represent the two handles of my pruningshears, which are pivotedtogether at a, and provided on their inner sides with springs G (3,which work again st each other to open the handles.

The handles are formed with outward projections b I) at a suitable pointbelow the pivot, to form upward stops for the hand in working theshears. The lower end of the-handle B forms an outward foot, (I, actingas a lower stop, while the lower end, (1, is bent inward, so as to beout of theway of the hand. The handle A is extended beyond thepivot-point and forms a curved jaw, D, to the side of which is attachedanother jaw, D, in such a manner that the cutting-blade can work betweenthem.

Upon the inner or curved faces of the double jaw D D are fastened stripsI I, of rubber, leather, or other suitable material, to form a liningwhich will prevent the limbs from being bruised while cutting, the limbsresting in the concavity of the double jaw.

The handle B is also extended beyond the pivot-point, and forms an arm,F, to the inner side of which the cuttingblade G is secured by twoscrews, 0 e. The shank of the blade G is sufficiently long to extendbelow the pivotpoint, and a hole made in the same for the passage of thepivoting-bolt a.

The arm F is formed with a projection, 71, at the back, on the sidewhere the blade is fastened, and the back of theblade rest-s againstsaid projection. The front of the projection h is made convex, and inthe back edge of the blade is a concave recess or notch,as shown at 2',to fit the same. It will readily be seen that the projection h forms asupport for the blade in cutting, so as to relieve the strain from thefastening-screws e, not only when a square cut is 1nade--that is, a outwhere the strain is directly backward-but also if at any time the strainshould be lengthwise of the blade.

The lining-strips I on the concave face of the double jaw may befastened thereto by cement, or by having dovetailed or other grooves inthe jaws and the strips fitting therein, or in any other suitable orconvenient manner.

When the implement is not in use it is locked closed by means of alatch, m, pivoted to a projection on the inner side of one of thehandles, and closing over a hook, at, on the other handle.

When the implement is in use the latch on is held up out of the way bymeans of a spring, 12, as shown in Fig. 1. Having thus fully describedmy invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

In a pruning implement constructed and arranged to have a resistanceequally upon" both sides of the knife, or, in other words, the knifecutting between two jaws, the strips of leather or rubber, or othersuitable material, I I, seulred on the face of the jaws, for the purposeof preventing the branch to be severed from being bruised, as herein setforth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.-

ANDREW J AGKSON LYTLE. Witnesses NATHAN H. AYRES, J. M. HoLMEs.

